Jun 30, 2016

It's a little over the half way point in the year, so naturally we should all be half way through our goodreads reading challenge. But we all know that there's two types of people in this world: those who are 2 books ahead of their reading challenge and those who are 20 books behind. Let's try to guess which person I am....

My goal this year was to read 75 books, and so far I am 8 books behind. Mostly this is because of school and exams, but I was in kind of a reading slump for the past month. I feel like I've come out of it recently, but I still find myself not reading a lot. I'm not completely upset about that because I still have 2 months of summer remaining, so I think that I'll be able to catch up.

Still, I know that there are many people who are really behind on their goals. Some people are over 20 books behind schedule, and I think that's when something needs to change. I'm not suggesting decreasing your goal but maybe it's time to change your reading habits. The best way to do that? Read-a-thons!!!

I find that if you really try to do a read-a-thon for a week (and not necessarily a scheduled read-a-thon) you get into the habit of reading a lot everyday. Once the read-a-thon is over you'll have read a lot of books pushing you closer to your goal and you will be more used to reading daily making your goal easier to meet.

I know a lot of read-a-thons are scheduled weeks that not all of us are able to do, so I suggest starting one on your own at whatever time. My sister and I plan to do just that sometime in July and maybe August.

Overall, try not to stress over your goal and do what you can. If you don't end up reaching your goal that's okay; it'll be a goal to reach next year. Just try to have fun and enjoy what you read!

"Seventeen-year-old Bo has always had delusions that he can travel through time. When he was ten, Bo claimed to have witnessed the Titanic hit an iceberg, and at fifteen, he found himself on a Civil War battlefield, horrified by the bodies surrounding him. So when his concerned parents send him to a school for troubled youth, Bo assumes he knows the truth: that he’s actually attending Berkshire Academy, a school for kids who, like Bo, have "superpowers."

At Berkshire, Bo falls in love with Sofia, a quiet girl with a tragic past and the superpower of invisibility. Sofia helps Bo open up in a way he never has before. In turn, Bo provides comfort to Sofia, who lost her mother and two sisters at a very young age.

But even the strength of their love isn’t enough to help Sofia escape her deep depression. After she commits suicide, Bo is convinced that she's not actually dead. He believes that she's stuck somewhere in time — that he somehow left her in the past, and now it's his job to save her."

Jun 28, 2016

Along with books I also love a good movie, so sometimes I love a movie so much that I don't read the book before or after. I just want to experience some stories only in film, and sometimes I only want to experience them in a book. That doesn't I haven't read and watched some stories, but here are some stories I've only watched.

1. Forrest Gump by Winston Groom2. The Godfather by Mario Puzo3. Different Seasons by Stephen King (Movie: The Shawshank Redemption)

Jun 20, 2016

"Warm Hawaiian sun. Lazy beach days. Flirty texts with her boyfriend back in Seattle.These are the things seventeen-year-old Sloane McIntyre pictured when she imagined the summer she’d be spending at her mom’s home in Hawaii with her twin brother, Penn. Instead, after learning an unthinkable secret about her boyfriend, Tyler, and best friend, Mick, all she has is a fractured hand and a completely shattered heart.Once she arrives in Honolulu, though, Sloane hopes that Hawaii might just be the escape she needs. With beach bonfires, old friends, exotic food, and the wonders of a waterproof cast, there’s no reason Sloane shouldn’t enjoy her summer. And when she meets Finn McAllister, the handsome son of a hotel magnate who doesn’t always play by the rules, she knows he’s the perfect distraction from everything that’s so wrong back home.But it turns out a measly ocean isn’t nearly enough to stop all the emails, texts, and voicemails from her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend, desperate to explain away their betrayal. And as her casual connection with Finn grows deeper, Sloane’s carefree summer might not be as easy to find as she’d hoped. Weighing years of history with Mick and Tyler against their deception, and the delicate possibility of new love, Sloane must decide when to forgive, and when to live for herself."

This was the best book to read to get me out of my book slump. Thanks to my friend Sarah to recommending it to me (PSST, y'all should check her blog out here). So, yeah I freaking loved it, and if anyone is looking for a good summer read this is the one!

My favorite thing about this book was the characters because they weren't annoying at all. The main character, Sloane, had a ton of problems thrown at her throughout the entire summer, and there is no way that I could have made it through all that the way she did. While there was some things that I would have done differently, I really sympathized with her situation and thus was more understanding. Also, the minor characters were cool too! Overall, no one was annoying which is a huge accomplishment for a contemporary novel. YAY!!!

The only thing would be that I kind of got a little bored with the plot for like 50 pages, but I kind of pushed through that. And I'm glad I did because the ending was great! I would like to say that the plot of the book wasn't the most original, but I enjoyed it because I was in the mood for a contemporary YA.Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good summer read. I was definitely in the mood for a contemporary, but I think if I wasn't in that mood I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much, so I would keep that in mind.Rating: 4 out of 5 stars!

Jun 19, 2016

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! Visit Tynga's Reviews to learn more about this weekly meme.

Jun 18, 2016

For those of you who live in the United States and visit Barnes & Noble regularly or get their emails will have heard about their weekend for teens. I freaking loved the idea. I work at a Barnes & Noble and there are rarely events for teens, so when one comes up I will definitely be there. Only this time there was a problem...

I know that most schools in most states are done in May, but if you live in New York then school probably hadn't ended yet and if it did you were running into all different kinds of conflicts. Many students told me that this happened right during exams or graduation. I had my senior prom that Friday night. I wasn't the only school who had prom that weekend either. I live in an area where not many teens like to show up to events and Barnes & Nobles. There aren't many big name authors like you'd get in New York City, so when I got to work the next day I heard that no one had shown up. My friends and I were a little sad that we couldn't go.I was in charge of the events on Saturday and still not many people showed up. Kate Karyus Quinn was the guest author (LOVE HER!) and she had a couple of people join her, but other than that most people came for the samplers and didn't stick around for the activities. I had two girls show up for the activities. Barnes & Noble had an amazing idea with this "teen festival" but their timing sucked. I know they have Pop Cultured in July and all the whole Back to School thing in August but the timing couldn't have been worse for B-Fest here in New York. So from all us book-obsessed teens in New York, please consider moving B-Fest to another time so more of us can join Barnes & Noble in celebrating YA Fiction and the YA community.

Jun 17, 2016

"It was the perfect trip…until it wasn’t.Eighteen-year-old Jill Charron wakes up in a hospital room, leg in a cast, stitches in her face and a big blank canvas where the last six weeks should be. She discovers she was involved in a fatal car accident while on a school trip in Italy. A trip she doesn’t even remember taking. She was jetted home by her affluent father in order to receive quality care. Care that includes a lawyer. And a press team. Because maybe the accident…wasn’t an accident.As the accident makes national headlines, Jill finds herself at the center of a murder investigation. It doesn’t help that the media is portraying her as a sociopath who killed her bubbly best friend, Simone, in a jealous rage. With the evidence mounting against her, there’s only one thing Jill knows for sure: She would never hurt Simone. But what really happened? Questioning who she can trust and what she’s capable of, Jill desperately tries to piece together the events of the past six weeks before she loses her thin hold on her once-perfect life."

This book is one of the most perplexing I've ever read, I'm not sure whether to hate it because of my morals or love it because it made me question my morals.I genuinely am struggling to write this review. I'm not sure whether to bash the book because it is just so morally...wrong, or maybe it's right. I DON'T KNOW. This book is really making me question everything I know about right and wrong. It really isn't black and white. I've gone back and forth between rating this book 4 out of 5 stars, 2 stars, 3 stars and I'm really conflicted. I don't think a book has torn me up this much. I even contemplated not writing a review on this book, but I realized that I had to because others should know about this. Books are supposed to make you question life and what we believe in. Eileen Cook really accomplished that.

“It doesn’t matter what’s true — what matters is what people believe.”

This book started out slow, it wasn't as gripping as it should have been. I went into this book blind, not knowing anything, and I didn't expect it to be this whole rollercoaster. This beginning didn't really hold my interest but as the book progressed I had a hard time keeping my hands off the book.The characters are such realistic people--even the assholes. Oh my god, I could've punched the father in this book. I wasn't even pissed with Evan because he's the lawyer but the Dad...

To be honest, by the end I hated everyone but the main character, her doctor, and Anna. I'm not sure if that was intentional but I'm going to guess that it was.

I begging you all to read this book so you can go through the anguish that I did at the end of this book, and so that all of you can understand how confused I am by the world now.